Abilene High eliminates Ysleta in Class 5A baseball playoffs for second straight year

MONAHANS — For the second straight year, the Abilene High Eagles eliminated Ysleta in the area round of the Class 5A baseball playoffs.

The Eagles followed Friday's 5-1 win with a 12-1 victory to advance to the regional quarterfinals vs. Abilene Wylie. Saturday's game was delayed two hours due to lightning.

How the Eagles got it done

Senior Brady Bennett pitched six strong innings to earn the win, striking out eight and allowing a fifth inning run.

Bennett, who has signed to play at Hardin-Simmons, also helped his own cause with a two-RBI double in the seventh.

Abilene scored three runs in the second inning and four in the fourth. Beckham Paul had a double, which plated three to help lead the offense.

Highlights for Ysleta

Thurfe Gurrola ended his high school career with two hits in three at-bats, Evan Martinez had a hard hit double and Alex Rubio recorded an RBI single.

Ysleta finished the season with 25 wins and won its third straight bi-district title.

What the winning team said

"We played as well as we have all season long in this series," Eagles coach Brad Harman said. "Brady has been great for us all season and he was very good today."

Added Bennett: "I didn't think I had my best stuff but I was able to use my breaking pitch well and make key pitches when I had to. Our team has really come together the past few weeks and we are playing well."

What Ysleta had to say

"You have to give them credit," Ysleta coach Rene Solis said. "Their starting pitcher did a good job of getting ahead in the count. We just couldn't get going on offense this weekend. But I am proud of our guys and what we have accomplished."

Said Gurrola: "We accomlished a great deal, we had a lot of potential on this team. The Abilene pitchers kept us off balance with their breaking pitches."

More: HS Baseball News Abilene High takes Game 1 from Ysleta in area round of UIL baseball playoffs

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @FChavezeptimes on X

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Abilene High eliminates Ysleta in Class 5A baseball playoffs for second straight year